


in celebration

by aetherae



Category: Kara no Kyoukai | The Garden of Sinners
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-05-03
Updated: 2012-05-03
Packaged: 2017-11-04 18:23:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,327
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/396836
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aetherae/pseuds/aetherae
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A look over the years in the peaceful times between Shiki and her daughter.</p>
            </blockquote>





	in celebration

**Author's Note:**

> Takes place post-canon! Basic knowledge of Mirai Fukuin will probably help in understanding it. (Basically, guess who actually manages to have a kid…) Shichi-Go-San is a festival for children in Japan celebrating the ages 3, 5, and 7. Girls celebrate ages 3 and 7 while boys celebrates ages 3 and 5.

**3**

November 15. It’s been a long while since Shiki took note of this day in a way that was more than just “another peaceful day gone by,” but Shichi-Go-San was no longer a holiday that could be passed off seeing as how her daughter was now three.

She watched as Mana stood in front of the bed, rifling through a kimono to wear for the visit to the local shrine. As always, the Ryougi family was never out of stock when it came to well-made kimonos. Shiki herself still wore them of course, a clothing habit that had never broken nor was ever likely to break, but that wasn’t what was on her mind that day.

Three-years-old. How old had she been when she was already aware of SHIKI? No, that wasn’t a question when it came to her—she had always known of SHIKI, even from before she knew what knowing was. It had never been a matter of realizing or understanding. Mana, on the other hand… She doesn’t remember how her family figured it out, but in her eyes at least, Mana showed no signs of having another personality. In fact, when it came to naming her, she refused to come up with a secondary name for her. Rather than denying the possibility of her future child inheriting the family trait, Shiki wanted to believe that such a thing wouldn’t come to pass.

Still, she worried.

“Mana.”

Putting down a teal blue kimono decorated with white flowers, Mana walked up to her mother and looked up with a bright smile. “Yes, Mother?”

Shiki looked at her daughter with what she hoped was a gentle expression. If Mana was three-years-old, then she must have been a mother for three years already. It sure didn’t feel like it. “Do you… know anyone else named Mana?”

Mana tilted her head slightly the left, the confusion obvious on her face. Shiki wanted to say she got that sort of evident expressiveness from her father, but she knew that Mikiya would claim the opposite.

“Uh-uh,” she said with a hesitant shake of her head. “Mana is the name that Mother gave me, and I don’t wanna share.”

Unexpectedly, a smile made its way to Shiki’s lips. “Is that so? I’m happy to hear that.”

Any confusion Mana had at her mother asking such a question disappeared at the sight of her smile. With a firm nod, she exclaimed, “Mm!”

“Hurry and go pick a kimono then. I’ll help you change into it.” And that was that; for now at least, there was nothing to worry about. As her worries were laid to rest, Shiki watched her daughter run back to the bed, still trying to decide which would be the prettiest to wear.

 

**5**

“Mother, today is November 15th.”

“That’s right, today’s November 15th,” was Shiki’s half-hearted answer as she shuffled through miscellaneous papers and such. It was times like these she actually missed bumming around a decrepit office to mindlessly listen to whatever complaint Mikiya had for Touko.

“So it’s Shichi-Go-San today, right?”

She looked up from her papers. “It is, but being five-years-old only matters for boys on this day. You’re a girl, so there’s no reason to visit the shrine again this year.”

Mana nodded, seemingly going back to the book she was reading until she looked up once again. Shiki idly wondered what kind of book she was reading this time; her daughter’s curiosity truly seemed to be endless.

“But what if,” she began slowly, speaking plainly as if this was a regular topic, “I had another me inside me? Like how Mother had Father?”

Now, Shiki put down the papers. While she had only mentioned SHIKI’s existence once or twice to her daughter thus far, it was probably natural that Mana asked about this. After all, if she did have another personality, then there probably would be a reason to celebrate Shich-Go-San that day.

Finally, after Mana had walked up to Shiki’s desk and peered over in impatient anticipation, Shiki replied. “It depends. What if the other you didn’t even want to go?”

“Well…” From behind her desk, Shiki could see Mana’s face scrunching up into a difficult expression, like she couldn’t even begin to comprehend how that would work. Of course, that was probably natural too. How do you imagine not agreeing with yourself in such a way?

In the end, she sighed and gave up on trying to think about it. “I don’t really know. I can’t think about it. Mother, should I be happy that I don’t have another me?”

She didn’t answer at first. She thought about how the Ryougi family went for generations without a successor because those with another personality were either admitted to mental care facilities or took their own lives. She thought about how her own grandfather struggled to maintain his sanity long enough for him to give her single message before passing on in death, alone.

She thought about herself, about SHIKI, and about how they nearly destroyed themselves entirely in how desperately they wanted to be normal for the sake of being with one boy.

“Mm. It’s alright for you to be happy.”

Maybe it could be different from person to person, but seeing Mana smile freely and laugh cheerfully without such a burden on her mind—it made her happy.

 

**7**

With another loop and a strong tug, the obi was set firmly in place and with zero chance of coming undone. As Shiki stood back up and took a step back, Mana trotted as quickly as she could in such restricting clothing to admire herself in the mirror.

“Mother, as pretty as this is, it’s really hard to move around. I know you simplify it for yourself during everyday things, but I don’t think I can do this like you can. After this, can we go buy some other clothes? I bet it’s really easy to move around in a short skirt.”

Such a frank way of talking… Did she have herself to blame for that, or could she point fingers at Mana’s doting papa? Maybe she could even say it was a trait inherited from SHIKI. Regardless, there was something about how her daughter never held back on her words that brought a nostalgic smile to her face.

“If you’d like to. For now, are you going to leave your hair like that, or are you going to fix it up?”

“Actually…” Mana trailed off, rifling through a small bag of hers until she brought out a single comb. “I was wondering if Mother would be able to do my hair today.”

She blinked, replying almost as if teasing, “Are you sure about that? For a girl, her hair is her life.” Old words from someone long ago, but they still held enough truth for Shiki to pass it on. Even then, she refused to let anyone touch her hair, and her own knife was the only thing allowed to cut it.

Undeterred though, Mana quickly brought out a seat in front of the mirror so she could sit. “If it’s Mother, it’s okay. For now at least, you’re the only one who can touch my hair.”

 “Well, well, it looks like I’ve earned myself quite the privilege.” The comb ran easily through Mana’s hair, all the way down to the tips. Shiki, of course, never did quite like having long hair, but the look suited Mana quite well.

“Please make it really, really nice! I hope Papa thinks I look nice.”

With a hairpin in her mouth and Mana’s hair piled ornately at the side of her head, Shiki managed to murmur, “You’ll have to sit still for that.”

As Mana continued to talk happily though, beaming brightly and with sincerity, Shiki felt herself smiling in quiet content as well. These regular, peaceful days—she had a feeling they would come like this for a long, long time.


End file.
